Commander's Notes
by Marine3950
Summary: A series of one-shots detailing some of the mechanics found in game from the point of view of the Commanders.
1. Chapter 1

**UEF Commander's Notes on Activating limited AI programming in individual units and defenses**

The battlefield is hectic. For the first few minutes after warping into a location, it's possible to micromanage single units at a time. However, once the battlefield reaches a point where you're executing several different assaults simultaneously, often while coordinating those assaults with allied commanders, it helps to be able to lessen the number of tasks on the list. To that end, all of our robotic warriors, from the Mech Marine Light Assault Bot to the Fat Boy Mobile Factory, have a built-in system for gaining combat experience.

Each time a unit confirms a kill, it records the diagnostic information in the unit leading up to the kill, and stores it in a memory bank on-board the unit, ranging from the target type to the weapon used in the kill to range and number of rounds fired. All of this information is stored on-board, and when enough is accumulated, the unit gains a slightly larger degree of autonomy. Not enough to have it gallivanting off across the battlefield on its own, but enough to make it more efficient in combat. Placing shots better, slight deviations in maneuvering to make it harder to take a hit.

However, trials showed that, despite the near-uniformity of each individual unit of the same type, the fact that they are created under battlefield ( conditions means that there is enough of a difference in each individual unit of the same type, be it two Snoops or two Summits, that the information cannot be reliably transferred between them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Cybran Commander's Notes on Destruction of standing infrastructure and units upon removal of ACU command signal**

In combat, information is key. The more you can get, the better off you are. The more you can deny your enemy, the worse off they are. The worst thing to happen on the battlefield is if an enemy gets a hold of any of your tech. A combat unit isn't quite as large of a loss, as it can always be destroyed in the battle. An engineer or a factory, on the other hand, is much more significant. UEF or Aeon with our technology would prove disastrous. At best, they know the weak points of that one unit type. At worst, they discover a way to incorporate the unit's technology into their own units.

To prevent this disaster from happening easily, all units and structures are programmed to self-destruct should they stop receiving a command signal from an ACU or, in some cases, an sACU. The most obvious reason for the termination of this signal would be if the battle turned south and the ACU cooked off under enemy fire. This prevents the enemy from taking advantage of the loss of command input from the ACU or sACU and easily snagging technology. However, it is also possible that the commander was victorious, and had to move out quickly, without having a chance to reclaim the forces. This way, the commander doesn't have to worry about his troops being captured by an enemy. He can focus on the next fight.

Incidentally, this is the reason that no technology can be obtained from units or buildings destroyed in combat. When destroyed, the remaining "suicide charges" detonate, destroying any potentially useful information that the enemy could have gleaned, leaving nothing but a charred hulk.


	3. Chapter 3

**Aeon Commander's comments on reclamation of wrecks underwater**

Reclamation of wrecks on the battlefield has always been an important part of managing a functional battlefield economy. Not only does reclaiming wrecks boost your own resources, it also denies the enemy potential resources. At the very least, it enables a commander to recycle the materials of his destroyed forces to rebuild them. At best, it provides a boost to Mass stores by reclaiming the wrecks of enemy forces, essentially turning their own resources against them.

Given how important it is to a battlefield Commander to reclaim wrecks on the battlefield, it comes as a surprise that, for a very long time, it was impossible for Commanders to exploit a type of wreck that is very mass-rich: Ships.

From frigates to battleships, combat vessels are extremely mass-intensive to create, and when destroyed, leave behind a large amount of mass. However, despite all of the advances in technology leading up to the Infinity War, and throughout, one problem could never be solved: transfer of mass through water to storage facilities. The problem is density. Water is about a thousand times denser than air, give or take, and the energy to move mass through a fluid material rises according to how dense the fluid is. Therefore, until additional technological advances were made after the Infinity War came to a close, reclamation of wrecks underwater was too energy-intensive to be considered viable.


End file.
